The three SeeDs traveled in complete silence the next morning. Squall had developed a black eye and was nursing it with an ice pack, while Irvine rubbed the bandage covering the four stitches on his forehead. Zell even had a few bruises covering his body, but nothing nearly as severe as the other two. They stared at each other, not saying anything as the scenery passed by the SeeD cabin window.

The entire trip had been spent in silence and glances shooting between the three people in the cabin. Squall was sitting on the top bunk, looking with his one good eye, while Zell sat on the couch, with his arms spread out on the back. Irvine had spent most of the trip pacing around, but right now stood leaning against the wall to the left of the door.

The conductor's chime sounded "Now arriving at Galbadia City, this is the last stop on this train, all passengers should collect their gear and stand by to depart the train. I repeat, now arriving at Galbadia City."

The three of them stood up and collected their bags and left the SeeD cabin. The train pulled into the station and they stepped off the train. Squall heaved his duffel bag over his shoulder and picked up his gunblade case, then walked onto the escalator. He got to the top of the escalator and saw the city sprawled out in-front of him. His mind flashed back to the last time he came here... with Rinoa. The last time he was here, his feelings for her had just started to develop, and now, almost 4 years after his first mission as a SeeD, he cant get her out of his mind.

He stood there, reminiscing about his last visit to the city, and the subsequent events, completely lost in his own thoughts. He was so lost that he did not notice Irvine come up behind him, until he spoke "Something wrong?"

Squall blinked and his thoughts returned to the present. "Nothing"

Irvine sighed "You know, you COULD talk to me about it, it might make you feel better. What have you got to loose?"

Squall glared at him for a moment before sighing with resignation "I was just wondering whether or not Rinoa is here somewhere. I know you scoured the city 3 years ago, but...."

Irvine cut him off "Squall, you can't keep blaming yourself. Yea, you made a mistake, but she overreacted. We both know you have tried everything possible to find her. If she is meant to be in your life, you will meet again, and if she isn't, then...." Irvine could not continue. He expected Squall to react negatively to what he said, but instead, he only sighed and walked towards the bus stop.

Zell moved up next to them. "You know, we aren't gonna have time to get to the hotel before our meeting."

Squall opened his mouth to say something, but Irvine cut him of and answered "Zell, that's 'cause we need to stay near her. Our accommodations are going to be provided for us close to this guys daughter."

Zell nodded knowingly "Ah, I understand. So that we can defend her at night too"

"You got it." Irvine replied. "You know, this is probably going to suck. Some rich spoiled brat. And knowing my luck, she is going to be ugly and with a shrill voice, making the days even longer. She probably is gonna have us running stupid errands too."

Zell snorted and almost doubled over laughing "Yea, like our contract with the Timber Owls."

Squall stopped in his tracks. Zell winced and Irvine buried his face in his right hand and shook his head. Zell slowly turned to Squall and started stammering "Ah... Squall... I meant like... ah.... when they had you... ah.. wake up Rin... err..."

If looks could kill, the stare Squall gave Zell could wipe out an army. Zell's face screwed up and he turned to walk quickly to the bus that just arrived and disappeared into it. Irvine followed him, and got onto the bus before glancing back at Squall, who stood rooted in place. "Come on Squall, were gonna be late."

Squall stared out at the city once again, before sighing and getting on the bus.

The three SeeDs sat in the living room of the Darvin mansion, waiting for their client to arrive. Though they had been 10 minutes late, they had been waiting 20 minutes already, and all three of them were starting to get bored. Squall stood staring out the window, which afforded a spectacular view of Galbadia City. Zell was pacing back and forth in his classic manner, and Irvine sat on a couch with his feet planted on a coffee table and his hat covering his eyes, like he was trying to sleep.

This continued for another few minutes before Zell had enough. He stopped and threw his arms in the air "Sheesh! they hire us to come here, and tell us that this is of high importance, then make us wait?! What's goin' on?!"

Squall glanced at Zell momentarily "Zell, shut up and be patient, they hired us, they will come."

Irvine tipped his hat back up "He's right, Zell, they are our clients. They can make us wait if they want to.

At that moment the door opened, and a tall man with balding hair walked through. He wore an immaculate 3 piece suit that looked like it was made from Centra silk. His hair ringed his head like a circlet, his bald top shining in the artificial light. He stood about 2 inches taller than Irvine, though with the hat, they were about even. "Gentlemen" he began "Allow me to apologize for my tardiness, but there were some pressing matters that I needed to attend to. My name is Arne Darvin."

Squall looked to Irvine, who stood up and extended a hand "Me name's Irvine Kinneas, I'm commander of this unit." He motioned to his companions "This is Squall Leonhart, and Zell Dincht."

Darvin offered his hand to Squall "Its a pleasure"

Squall stared at Darvin, keeping his arms crossed. Darvin kept his hand extended for a moment with confusion and some shock on his face before Zell grabbed his hand and pumped it furiously. The short blond smiled "It certainly is, sir! Your company has done quite a bit for SeeD, and we are honored to return the favor."

Irvine was stunned. Nice save Zell. Zell usually had the mouth that caused problems in the group, and this was certainly a welcome change. Irvine noticed that Darvin still had not taken his eyes off of Squall, and quickly picked up the slack "Shall we get to business? I'm sure you want us to get on the job as fast as possible"

The balding man stared at Squall for another second with shock and insult written all over his face. Irvine could almost not contain his wince. Darvin was a member of the Galbadian elite, and Squall had done the equivalent of slapping him in the face. This would not go over well, but probably he will overlook it Irvine mused. Darvin finally took his eyes of Squall and motioned for the three to sit down. Squall stayed standing with his arms crossed. Irvine sat back down on the chair he was sitting on before, and Zell sat on a leather sofa. Irvine noticed him bounce on it once with a childlike grin on his face, before he got a hold of himself and turned "professional"

Darvin started first "Gentlemen, as you hopefully know, you have been hired to protect my daughter. she is very dear to me, and I do not want to see anything happen to her. I have recently been receiving threats from a fringe group in Centra to make some military grade weapons for them. They offered compensation, however, they are listed by Galbadia as a terrorist organization, and thusly, I'm bound by law not to deal with them. They didn't like my response, and 3 days ago I received this letter."

He removed a folded piece of paper from his jacket and handed it to Irvine. Irvine unfolded it and started reading the typed font...

Dear Mr. Darvin,

I am dismayed by your refusal of our generous offer. We are willing to compensate you at double normal price, however, we need this equipment. Therefore, we are amending our offer. We greatly desire this equipment. Therefore, we will keep our compensation offer the same. However, if you do not accept, we will take drastic action to make sure you change your mind. You have until Monday at Noon to respond in the usual drop. I urge you to accept our proposal.

Yours Truly

John Doe

P.S. Your daughter is a very intelligent and beautiful young woman. I would hate to see something happen to her.

Irvine finished reading and passed it onto Zell to read, while Squall read the contents over Zell's shoulder. Irvine, meanwhile, sat and absorbed the implications of this, his mind turning to his usual thought processes. She is beautiful the guy said. Heeeeeey, that means this might be a fun assignment after all. As Squall and Zell finished reading the note, Darvin continued "As you can see, I am concerned for my daughters well-being. The deadline for this note passed about 45 minutes ago, and I delivered my response saying no."

Zell spoke up "I'm curious, why did you not want us to come until today? I mean, we could have been here Saturday, and your daughter could have been kidnapped or something to hold against you and force you to accept by today."

Darvin paused for a moment. "That wouldn't fit the profile of these terrorists actually. They seem to be more afraid of something and have become reluctant terrorists rather than extremists. Besides, my daughter was here ever since Friday night, and this mansion is well guarded."

Squall finally spoke up "But your guards might be in league with these terrorists. That was an awfully big risk to take."

The balding man replied "I don't think so, I've known most of these guards for years. They are more like family than hired employees. Besides, my daughter is very capable of defending herself."

A knock sounded on the door. "Ah, that must be her." Darvin stood up "Come in."

The door opened. Irvine's assessment of the note had been right, though grossly under-exaggerated. Zell's jaw dropped and Irvine's eyes lit up as he whistled, then grinned broadly. Even Squall's eyes popped wide open, though he controlled himself a lot better than his comrades.

The young woman was wearing black leather pants and a light blue spaghetti strap tank top that left her midriff showing. A black bra strap showed underneath one spaghetti strap slightly, which was obviously helping out her well endowed chest. Her blond hair was kept free-flowing, and went down to the middle of her back. She wore black heeled sandals which added to her already impressive height. With them, she stood as tall as Irvine. She smiled as Irvine whistled, and that smile seemed to radiate throughout the room, Her soft hazel eyes gave Irvine a rundown, before moving to Zell and Squall.

The oldest person of the group smirked at the reaction of the SeeDs. They are really too young for this. They might be the best soldiers in the world, but they are too young. He broke the spell "Gentlemen, may I present my daughter Natalie Darvin? Natalie, these are the SeeDs I told you I'd hire to protect you." He motioned to Irvine "This is the team leader..."

Natalie interrupted him. "Father, I told you I don't need protection, I can take care of myself. I don't want hounds watching my every move."

Her father sighed "Natalie, I do this because I love you. I don't want to see anything happen to you, especially something that is really my fault."

Natalie sighed. The older man continued. "This is Irvine, the team leader."

Irvine took off his hat and put it over his chest as he bowed "A definite pleasure, ma'am" He still had not wiped the smile off his face.

Natalie held her smile freely. Definite lady's man, better avoid him. "Could you introduce me to your friends?"

Irvine's broad grin still was plastered on his face "Sure thing, suga. Sitting down over there is Zell." Zell's mouth was still open wide as he absentmindedly waved. "And behind him, is Squall"

Squall's eyes had returned to normal for a while already, and nodded to her. He then noticed Zell still gaping, and slapped him upside the head. Zell did not respond. It was as if he never even noticed the impact. Squall slapped him again, much harder this time. "Owww! Geeze man! What gives?!" Zell turned and gave his best nasty glare at Squall as he rubbed his head.

The elder Darvin watched the scene with great amusement, though the only sign of it was the small smirk returning to his lips. DEFINITELY too young. "Well, gentlemen, I will conclude by saying that you are to consider her orders my orders, except you are not allowed to obey her order to leave her alone and go back home."

With that, he stood up and walked out the door. Natalie meanwhile was giving Squall another rundown with her eyes. Pretty hot, I wonder if he is taken. She could have sworn that she had seen him before, but could not place where. "So, where should we start?"

In the end, the four agreed that one of them should act as an escort, while the other two would hang back several feet. Now it was just a matter of who.....

"I'll be honored to escort you, ma'am"

Irvine flashed another grin and offered his arm to her. Before, she could do or say anything, Zell shoved him out of the way. "No way man, I'll escort her."

Irvine snorted. "are you kidding me? your a midget compared to her!"

"Yea? We'll see if your still yappin' after I kick your ass!"

"Hah! my perfect ass would deflect the blow!"

"Not after I knock that hat off of it!"

"Why you little...."

They continued to squabble amongst themselves for a few minutes, while Natalie smiled and laughed at their childlike behavior. "Boys, as much as I'm flattered by your... competition... I'd rather have Squall here escort me."

Squall looked up with a start. He had been leaning against the wall with his hand covering his face at his comrades' actions "What?!"

Irvine and Zell just stood stone-like, staring at her. Irvine had his hand wrapped around Zell's neck, while Zell had Irvine's ponytail in his, both ready to punch each other. "Don't worry boys, you each will get a chance." She smiled even brighter and chuckled as she offered her arm to Squall.

Squall stared at her arm and then at her face. "I don't think...."

Natalie cut him off "I'm not taking no for an answer, or do we need to bring up your contract?"

Squall scowled as he continued to stare at her, then extended his own arm for her to take. Zell walked up and slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a wink. Irvine on the other hand decided to speak up "Nice going man, you could do worse"

Irvine gave him a broad smile and Squall buried his face in his other hand again. His voice was muffled as he spoke "Irvine, if you don't shut up" Squall added extra emphasis to the last two words "you are going to have a gunblade imbedded in your skull."

The four youths left the Darvin mansion. Natalie had changed into sneakers so she would not tower over Squall, though she still stood an inch over his head. they walked arm in arm out the door. Squall had complained more about his "assignment," especially the part where they had to have physical contact. It took another mention of the contract to silence him, though the scowl and the stone glare remained. Irvine and Zell walked a little behind, carrying all their bags and Squall's gunblade box.

Zell moved the box from one hand to the other for the fifth time on their journey before he started to complain "Man, this thing weighs a ton! How does Squall carry it?"

"He takes out the lead weights that are in there right now"

"WHAT?!"

Zell dropped the case and flipped it open. Sure enough, under the padding of the inside, there were at-least 40 pounds of lead in the case. Squall noticed that the other two SeeDs had stopped, and returned. Zell turned with fury and stared at Squall, while Squall had a look of confusion on his face. "Zell, why are you putting lead into my gunblade case?"

"Zell stood up and threw his fists up and crossed them in front of him "Squall, how could you do that to me?!"

At that moment, Irvine doubled over, no longer able to contain his laughter. He fell to the floor and started laughing his head off. Squall covered his face, understanding what had happened. Natalie also found some amusement in the situation but hid it from her face. These three sure are characters. Zell was flaming mad, and Squall had to grab his shoulder to keep him from attacking Irvine. As Irvine finally stopped his laughter, Squall asked him "Irvine, where did you get those lead weights from?"

Irvine stood up and started snickering again "Hehe....That's my secret there... hehehe"

Squall sighed and removed the remaining weights from his gunblade case. Zell walked up to Irvine with murder written on his face. Squall stood up with concern that one or two of his friends might be needing medical treatment in a moment, but Zell just stood there and glared at the still snickering Irvine. Finally, Zell reached up very quickly and pulled Irvine's hat down as far as it could go, half covering his face, then walked away. Squall breathed a sigh of relief and closed his gunblade case again. As Irvine and Zell were collecting their gear again, Squall turned to Natalie "Where are we going anyway?"

Natalie pointed towards the shopping arcade "Galbadia City Hotel. I work as an entertainer there, playing the piano while my partner sings. We both have rooms in the hotel, and that is where I live. I'll arrange with management to get you guys a room next to mine."

The rest of the walk to the hotel happened without incident, and they walked into the lobby. Natalie went to talk to the manager of the hotel, and Irvine and Zell put down their luggage. Zell flopped into a chair "Man, I'm pooped!"

Irvine smirked but decided he had tormented Zell enough for the time being, though he would never admit it to anybody. Instead, he followed Squall back out the hotel. Squall was just lighting a cigarette, and stared at the cowboy. "Mind giving me one?"

Squall continued to stare for a moment before he took out his pack again and flipped it open. Irvine withdrew one and pulled out his own lighter. After he lit his cigarette, they stood in silence for a minute, before Irvine interrupted whatever thoughts Squall as thinking. "Feeling better? That black eye is almost gone."

"Mind telling me what happened last night?"

"Look man, you almost got yourself arrested, I'm gonna have to report this to Cid. If you tell me what happened, I'll be able to find a way to twist the story as not being your fault, that you were provoked, or attacked, or whatever"

Squall sighed. "One of them had a picture of Rinoa. It was... revealing... and they were gawking at it and shouting about her. I don't know if half the things they said about her were true or not, but I couldn't take it anymore. So I shut them up."

"Hmm... could you tell how old she was in the picture?"

"Definitely a little older and more.... womanlike... probably taken no more than a year ago. She was lying on a beach somewhere in a bikini. I gathered that the paparazzi has been stalking her."

"Deling City is quite a ways from the ocean, that maybe why we couldn't find her. She might have gone somewhere secluded."

"You mean Galbadia City"

Irvine's face screwed at his mistake "Err.... yea..."

Squall puffed on his cigarette again, and dropped it on the floor. As he was smashing it with his boot, he took out another one and lit it. Irvine stared at his own half-finished cigarette for a moment before continuing. "Hey man, don't worry about it, I will not send a report into Cid about this."

Squall glanced towards him. "You didn't have any intention of reporting it anyway, did you?"

Irvine grinned slightly "Well.. uh... no. I just wanted you to talk to me a bit."

Squall sighed and returned to his cigarette. Silence reigned between them for a while longer before Irvine spoke up again. "So, what do you think of Natalie"

"...Whatever"

Irvine grinned and put his elbow on Squall's shoulder and leaned on it. "Come on man, I know even you find her attractive. Don't think I didn't catch your expression back at the mansion."

Squall shoved Irvine's elbow off of his shoulder and turned away from him. "Irvine, Shut up now."

"Aww, come on man. Did ya see the way she was looking at you? Remember, she chose you to escort her first. She has it out for you man! Ya can't keep beating yourself up for Rinoa leaving you. She is the one who left, not the other way around. Ya need to move on and live a little. Besides, I bet Rinoa is out there on the beach right now, enjoying her time with some big surfer hunk, day and night, night and day..."

Squall whipped around furiously and grabbed Irvine by the neck and shoved him into the wall. Natalie had already returned from talking to the manager and was just giving Zell a key when they both heard a thunk from outside, and saw Squall assault Irvine. They ran out the door.

"I will deal with this the way I know best. People leave you and never come back. You can only rely on yourself, and I'm perfectly happy doing just that. But if you EVER talk about her like that again, I will make sure you never ride a horse, or a woman, again."

Squall pulled Irvine off the wall, and slammed him back into it again, before letting go of him and walking off, lighting a third cigarette. All three of them stared off at his departing figure. Irvine and Zell sighed and turned to walk back into the hotel again. Natalie continued to stare after him. Talk about some emotional baggage.

Author's comments: First off, I've slightly updated Chapter 3. Nothing new, just some grammar corrections and a slight clarification on the picture of Rinoa, thanks to beta reader for pointing out the need for clarification. Nothing you really need to concern yourself with, unless you want to go back. Second off, For those of you who have read Ashbear's Castles in the Sky, yes that was a nod to her supreme skill, and there will be at least one more. Chapter 5 up comming either late tonight or tomorrow, depends on my schedule and if any/all of my betas are online later tonight.